Hong Kong is most expensive city for expatriates

Hong Kong is the most expensive city to live in for expatriates, according to research by Mercer.

Its annual Cost of living survey, which analysed the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment across 375 cities, using New York as a base city, found that Luanda, Angola, is the second most costly city for expatriates, with Zurich coming in third.

The research also found:

UK cities have fallen down the rankings, with London dropping five places to 17th, Glasgow falling 10 places to 119th, and Belfast down three places to 134th place.

Zurich is the costliest city in Europe, ranking third.

Tel Aviv is the most expensive city in the Middle East, ranking in 19th place overall.

The least expensive cities for expatriates are Windhoek, Cape Town and Bishkek.

New York is the highest ranking US city, ranking in 11th place.

Cities in Asia continue to rank highly, with Singapore coming in fourth and Tokyo ranking fifth.

Ilya Bonic, senior partner and president of Mercer’s talent business, said: “Despite technology advances and the rise of a globally connected workforce, deploying expatriate employees remains an increasingly important aspect of a competitive multinational [organisation’s] business strategy.

“However, with volatile markets and stunted economic growth in many parts of the world, a keen eye on cost efficiency is essential, including a focus on expatriate remuneration packages.”